What a heat wave we're experiencing here in Toronto this November! While Nathalie and I stay soaking up the unexpectedly beautiful weather, we're also trying to get the most out of our favourite fruits and vegetables while they remain in season.
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Some dazzling, colourful mini heirloom tomatoes are still on stands at the small, local produce shops on Church Street near our place, so I picked some up on my way home from class and set my mind to developing a simple salad with them!
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This Heirloom Tomato Salad is made with a quickly-thrown-together Labneh as opposed to the traditional mozzarella or burrata cheese accompaniment. Labneh is one of our latest obsessions – it's basically Greek yogurt that has been strained through a cheesecloth and left overnight to thicken. It's a Lebanese dish, usually served with fine olive oil, za'atar spice (a mix of sumac, toasted sesame seeds, thyme, salt & pepper) and sometimes honey drizzled overtop.
Ever since Nathalie and I tried labneh at one of our favourite restaurants, Byblos, we've been dying to recreate it. It's an absolute delicacy in our household. Usually labneh is served as a dip for toasted bread and roasted root vegetables like beets, but I knew it would be a fantastic accompaniment for these juicy, sweet and tart fall tomatoes.
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I definitely went against the grain in throwing together my labneh, especially since I didn't strain it overnight. I mean, who has the time to do that, especially when you're craving something right away! So of course in impulsive fashion (and without ever having used a cheesecloth before), I decided to use a slightly thickened version of the Greek yogurt as a labneh and sprinkled it with my own version of za'atar spice. If you're interested in making a more authentic version of labneh, Food 52 has a great recipe.
Sumac is a spice that I don't readily have on hand, and it wasn't in my local grocery store. However, I borrowed some flavour elements from our own Homemade Chicken Shawarma recipe (which also uses heirloom tomatoes!) to add to my labneh. Instead of sumac, I used a combination of cumin, coriander, sesame seeds, salt and pepper, drizzling honey and olive oil overtop of the thickened yogurt.
To negate some of the harshness of the tomatoes, I mixed up a last minute citrus vinaigrette to pour overtop of the tomatoes, et voila! Our very own fine-dining masterpiece with sweet and creamy quick labneh.
Will you be trying our Heirloom Tomato Salad with a Quick Labneh? How are you using heirloom tomatoes this year? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at the @GirlsonBloorTO  🙂
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Heirloom Tomato Salad with a Quick Labneh
Ingredients
Labneh
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- Some cheesecloth can be found at the dollar store
- Pinch of sesame seeds cumin, coriander, salt & pepper
- Drizzle of olive oil and honey
- Pinch of chopped pistachios optional
Salad
- 2 cups chopped mini heirloom tomatoes sliced in half
- Any type of sprouts
Citrus dressing
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Juice of half an orange
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Prepare labneh by putting a cheesecloth over a wire strainer. Let sit over a large bowl and strain for up to 24 hours, but a quick version of this is fine to be strained within 15 minutes (squeeze out as much liquid as you can if you go this route!)
- Scoop a bit of the labneh into the middle of a large pasta bowl, and sprinkle with spice mix and pistachios, and drizzle with olive oil and honey.
- Mix all the ingredients for the citrus dressing together, and then cut tomatoes in half.
- Arrange the tomatoes all around the labneh, and pour a tiny bit of dressing overtop of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with sprouts, and serve with sesame bread!
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